December 2018

Three-day symposium (29 Nov-1 Dec 2018). Most cities in Asia are coastal delta cities or cities along major river systems or water bodies. Current policy discourses on water in cities—in Asia and worldwide—tend to treat water narrowly as a threat and as an element to engineer against and overcome (in the case of floods) or (in the case of scarcity) as a resource to be better managed and regulated. What is missing in this rather uni-dimensional and technocratic approach to water is an appreciation of the multiple engagements between human beings and water, in historical context.

The current royal transition exposes a dangerous interregnum in which the political system of the past (Bhumibol) is dying and a new political system has remained unborn. Pavin Chachavalpongpun (Kyoto University) will discuss the nature of the interregnum and the impacts on Thai politics, as well as the upcoming election in February 2019.

For many decades, China was known by its firm political standing opposed to the idea of sending a single soldier abroad during peacetime. In July 2017 China formally inaugurated its first-ever military base abroad, located in Djibouti, Eritrea, Africa. Lecture by Daniel Mekonnen, ASCL-IIAS Joint Visiting Fellow and Director of the Eritrean Law Society (ELS).

IIAS is a Humanities and Social Sciences institute and knowledge exchange platform based in the Netherlands. It encourages the multidisciplinary study of Asia and initiates programmes that engage Asian and other international partners. IIAS facilitates fellowships, organises conferences and publishes The Newsletter, our free periodical on Asian Studies.

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